Boundary changes: loses part of Greenford Broadway ward to Ealing North and parts of Ealing Broadway and Ealing Common to Ealing Central and Acton.

Profile: A West London seat in the Borough of Ealing, covering Southall itself, Norwood Green, Dormer`s Wells and part of Hanwell. To the south of the constituency is the Grand Union Canal and Ealing Hospital.

Southall is a residential area dominated by the asian community. Over half the population is from an ethnic minority, overwhelmingly from an asian background, mostly Punjabi. There are significant Hindu and Muslim populations, but the Sikh community is most dominant. Ealing Southall has one of the highest proportions of Sikhs in any constituency in the UK and contains the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, one of the largest Sikh temple`s outside of India. In 2008 the third Sikh faith school in the UK is expected to open in South Norwood in the constituency.

At a Parliamentary level Ealing Southall has been solidly Labour – traditionally the Conservatives were in a distant second place, but in 2005 the Liberal Democrats narrowly overtook them. In 2001 it was one of the few seats where a fringe party candidate outpolled one of the main parties, when Dr Avtar Lit, the Chairman of the asian Sunrise Radio group, achieved third place. Dr Lit`s son, Tony Lit, was the Conservative candidate in the 2007 by-election. Following the death of Piara Khabra, at the time the oldest MP in the Commons, in 2007 Labour successfully held the seat in a by-election.

At a local level the area is divided between Labour and the Conservatives – wards in the west of the seat are solidly Labour and mostly represented by councillors from the Sikh community. The Conservatives are stronger in the leafier Northfield area to the east. Despite the large asian community, Respect only put forward a serious challenge in the Southall Green ward.

Current MP: Virendra Sharma (Labour) born India. Educated at the LSE. Day services manager for people with learning disabilities. Ealing councillor for over 25 years. (more information at They work for you)

2010 election candidates: Gurcharan Singh (Conservative) born 1948, Punjab. Former British rail guard, tax officer and hotelier. Labour party councillor in Ealing since 1982, he defected to the Conservative party during the Ealing Southall by-election.Virendra Sharma (Labour) born India. Educated at the LSE. Day services manager for people with learning disabilities. Ealing councillor for over 25 years. (more information at They work for you)Nigel Bakhai (Liberal Democrat) born 1971, Shoreham. Educated at Brighton College and the University of Bradford. Equipment Demand Planner for Xerox. Contested Ealing Southall 2005, 2007 by-election.Suneil Basu (Green) Teacher.Sati Chaggar (English Democrat) Born Nairobi, 1961. Owns a car repair business. Contested Ealing Southall by-election 2007, Ealing and Southall 2008. Contested London region in 2009 European elections.Mehboob Anil (Christian Party)

2007 By-election

The Ealing Southall by-election was held on the 19th July following the death of Piara Khabra and during Gordon Brown`s honeymoon as Labour leader. The Labour party successfully held the seat with only a 7.5% drop in their vote, with the Liberal Democrats in second place. The Conservatives were for a time expected to do well after selecting Tony Lit, the MD of an Asian radio station whose father had previously performed well as an independent candidate in the seat. Labour faced internal division over their candidate selection and following Virendra Sharma`s selection several Sikh Labour councillors, led by Gurcharan Singh, defected to the Conservative party giving the Tories apparently strong momentum in the early stages of the campaign. The Conservatives focused their resources on the seat, with David Cameron visiting the constituency five times. The Tory campaign faltered though when it was revealed that Lit, who had only recently joined the Conservative party, had attended a Labour party fund-raiser shortly before being selected.